Category: Local Icon

Abang Johari (second left) accepts a memento from Centre for Asia Leadership president Samuel Kims.
KUCHING: Sarawak will strive to develop its talents and infrastructure towards achieving its vision of becoming a developed state by 2030.
In stating this assurance, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg points out that the Sarawak government has put in place the necessary infrastructure, with more initiatives to follow, towards attaining this goal.
The chief minister, who is also the chairman of Sarawak’s ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), says his administration aspires to develop smart cities in Sarawak, besides working on bridging the development gap between the urban and rural areas.
“Sarawak targets 2030 to become a developed state. That is the vision we have. Along the way, we have to prepare ourselves including the injection of capital, upgrading our infrastructure and developing our talents and rural areas.
“We want to develop smart cities where everything is done smartly – having big data and central server, where...

KUCHING: The Federal Cabinet has approved the repayment of a RM1 billion debt to the Federal Government from the Sarawak Government to fix dilapidated schools in Sarawak.
In a Facebook post, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik revealed this decision following a previous agreement between him and Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
This was agreed upon during his visit to the Chief Minister’s Office on Feb 19 to discuss issues that would benefit 436,000 pupils across the state.
A loan was offered last year by Abang Johari due to the urgency and need to repair the schools in question.
A special committee comprising the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the State Government of Sarawak will be established to ensure clean governance and transparent processes are be implemented.
At the implementation stage, the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) will be assigned as the implementing agency.
The Cabinet has also agreed that the project will be closely monitored to ensure that the funds of RM1 billion will...